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The Appleton Public Library will hire a full-time safety manager to promote a safe and secure environment.(Photo: File/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

APPLETON - The public library will hire a full-time safety manager to oversee the protection of its staff, patrons, facilities and collections.

The Library Board unanimously approved the position earlier this week as one of several changes to the library's table of organization.

The cost of the changes will be offset by the elimination of a full-time operations clerk, a part-time library clerk and a part-time library page. All of the eliminated positions are vacant.

Library Director Colleen Rortvedt said the primary safety and security responsibilities at the library currently are divided among staff members.

"This workload has grown in volume and complexity and is no longer sustainable," Rortvedt said in a memorandum to the Library Board. "The need for continuous attention to procedures, ongoing training, maintaining relationships with neighborhood collaborations, oversight of the guards and the contract with the security company deserve the dedicated time and attention of an individual that can provide a cohesive, clear and appropriate approach to safety and security."

Appleton is not alone in creating a position to improve safety and security. The Brown County Library hired a full-time safety officer in November, and the Mead Public Library in Sheboygan hired a full-time community resource and security specialist in 2018.

The Appleton Library Board allocated $78,805 in salary and benefits for the safety manager. The job description will call for a bachelor's degree in law enforcement or social work.

Sandy Matz, Appleton's human resources director, said the organizational changes will be reported to the Common Council on March 18. The hiring process for the safety manager will begin soon afterward, with the hope of having the position filled by summer.

Rortvedt said the safety manager will work with police, the library's security guards and the contracted security service that has kept watch over the library and the nearby Valley Transit Center since 2012.

"Providing safety and security in an environment that prioritizes welcoming and inclusiveness is complicated," Rortvedt said, and must be done "in accordance with our library’s strategic plan mission, vision, values and objectives."

In May, a shooting at the transit center spilled onto the library property. The exchange of gunfire between Ruben Houston of Wausau and Appleton police officers resulted in the deaths of Houston and Appleton firefighter Mitch Lundgaard and injuries to two others.

Safety concerns predate the shooting, however. Administrators have been updating the library board about safety and security issues since 2017.